Thread: 352 2bbl vs 4bbl

Tweet

First off, welcome. As far as the additional HP of the 2BBL over the over the 4BBL versions of the engines in addition to the areas you mentioned, the 4BBL engines also often benefited from higher compression and a hotter cam.

The Ford FE engine series (which includes the 352) CAN be a pricey engine to build properly. If you eventually plan on building a bigger FE to eventually transplant into the truck and basically plan on using the 352 as practice, I would suggest you buy the truck that has the most solid engine in to begin with.

I can be well worth having a professional mechanic go ever the drive train, checking things like oil pressure, cooling and compression. Throwing speed parts on a tired old engine will be an exercise in frutility.

The external parts you buy can be transferred to the bigger engine when it comes time to build it……although you will probably want to upsize what ever cam you put in the 352.

A 352 will respond to a 4bbl and dual exhausts, either with headers or stock manifolds. An aftermarket aluminum manifold removes a lot of front end weight, the factory manifolds weigh a ton! Don't pass up a cheap one, though, they do work, and the truck is pretty heavy anyway.
If you have a 3 speed stick, a good swap is a four over from a mid-70's pickup. It fits the bellhousing, clutch, and driveshaft you already have, and is a 70% or so OD.

BTW, you should go to the 'Slick 60's" site for lots of info on your truck.

FEs are very cool engines..But they are probably the worst V8 on the planet to do an intake change in the car because of the design..If you are installing an iron intake you need two guys of a cherrypicker and more than likely the gasket will still leak when you're done...Not to mention that you must R+R the pushrods adn rocker arms to do the job.I would definitely go with an aluminum intake.They are also the worst exhaust manifolds/headers to deal with due to bolt breakage. When I first started out it was all FEs, the one good thing about them is that if you work on those, everything else is easier..